Apparatus for controlling eating and smoking habits

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for reducing the craving for food and tobacco smoke including a flexible resilient member having a central portion received between the lower lip and teeth and a pair of outwardly extending side portions received between the user&#39;&#39;s cheeks and the teeth at the sides of the mouth. The central portion has a tab which may be flipped back and forth by the tongue.

United States Patent [191 Stubbs June 25, 1974 APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLINGEATING AND SMOKING HABITS [76] Inventor: James M. Stubbs, 111 1Lancaster Ln., Rockingham, NC. 28379 [22] Filed: Dec. 1, 1972 [21] Appl.No.: 311,204

[51] Int. Cl. A6lf 5/00 [58] Field of Search 128/136, 359

[56] References Cited 1 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,212,145 8/1940 Banander220/242 3,187,746 6/1965 Gerber 128/359 X 3,224,442 12/1965 Stubbs128/136 3,295,519 l/ l 967 Gerber 3,587,590 6/1971 Hastings 128/359Primary Examiner-Channing L. Pace Attorney, Agent, or FirmA. YatesDowell, Jr.

[ 57] ABSTRACT Apparatus for reducing the craving for food and tobaccosmoke including a .flexible resilient member having a central portionreceived between the lower lip and teeth and a pair of outwardlyextending side portions received between the users cheeks and the teethat the sides of the mouth. The central portion has a tab which may beflipped b ack and forth by the tongue.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING EATING AND SMOKINGHABITS BACKGROUND or THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention Thisinvention relates generally to the overall well being and health of anindividual and relates particularly to apparatus for controlling orsatiating the craving experienced by many which is satisfied orally byeating and smoking.

a 2. Description of the Prior Art It is recognized by some authoritiesthat many persons overeat, drink and smoke for the purpose of meeting apsychological need. In the past most efforts for overcoming thepsychological need have been directed to the use of will power withlittle effort being directed toward apparatus to assist in overcomingthe need. Although many devices have been provided for the oral cavityor mouth of a person, most of these devices have been in the form ofdentures of various kinds, as well as devices for inhibiting snoringsuch as US. Pat. No. 3,132,657 to Corniello and British Pat. 874,480 toLe Galley et al. Mitchell US. Pat. No. 2,142,614 discloses a mouthpiecefor a corpse. My previous US. Pat. No. 3,224,442 is directed toapparatus to assist in overcoming the psychological need to eat andsmoke; however, this invention is an improvement over my previous patent.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention is an apparatus received withinthe oral cavity or mouth of a person to assist in controlling orovercoming the psychological need to eat more than is necessary or tosmoke tobacco products. The apparatus includes a flexible member ofsheet material of a configuration to be received between the teeth andthe cheeks and lower lip and having a portion projecting inwardly intoproximity with the tongue.

It is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus which a'personcan place in his mouth and which causes salivary fluids to flow to helpcontrol or satiate the psychological need to overeat or smoke.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective illustrating oneapplication of FIG. 4 is an enlarged section on the line 4-4 of FIG. 7

FIG. 5 is an enlarged section on the line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With further reference to thedrawing, a mouthpiece 10 of flexible, resilient, chemically inertmaterial is provided having a relatively thin narrow central portion 11integrally connected to outwardly extending enlarged side portions orwings 12 and 13. As illustrated best in FIG. 3, the lower edge of thecentral portion 11 and the lower edges of the side portions 12 and 13are substantially coextensive in a gentle curve while the upper edges ofthe side portions curve upwardly to provide a teardrop shape for theside portions. Each of the side portions 12 and 13 is provided with oneor more score lines 14 on at least the front surface thereof and suchscore lines are used as guide lines for altering the size of themouthpiece with scissors or other sharp instruments.

An upwardly extending tab 15 is integrally formed with the centralportion 11 and such tab includes a head 16 connected by a reduced neck17 to the central portion. In order to facilitate more flexible movementof the tab 1 5 ,the neck 17 is provided with relatively wide recesses 18in both the front and rear surfaces of the neckto provide a portion ofreduced thickness and increased flexibility. The head 16 includes atleast one score line 19 for use as a guide in reducing the size of thehead.

The entire mouthpiece is molded of one-piece construction and can bemolded from rubber or from a thermoplastic synthetic organic polymericresin such as the acrylics, styrenes and modified styrenes, vinyls,polyethylene and the; like which are non-absorbent, flexible, tastelessand chemically inert so that the mouthpiece can remain in the mouth forextended periods of time while the user is awake without irritation ordiscomfort. It has been found that a molded rubber product-marketed byShell Chemical Company and designated as Kraton 2109 is well suited forthis purpose.

In the use of the device, the mouthpiece 10 iscurved generally to theconfiguration of a persons lower jaw and is inserted into the mouth withthe central portion 11 located between the lower lip and thelowerincisor teeth, while the side portions 12 and 13 extend rearwardlyto a position between the cheeks and the molars. The tab 15 extends overthe incisors and into proximity with the tongue so that the user can toywith the tab either consciously or unconsciously. Due to the presence ofa foreign body within the mouth, a person s salivary glands will excretesaliva which at least par tially fills the psychological need to overeator to smoke tobacco products.

1 I claim:

1. Apparatus for reducing the psychological need of excessive caloricintake, as well as the need for smoking tobacco comprising a flexibleresilient sheet member of substantially chemically inert non-absorbentmaterial, said member having a central portion and a pair of sideportions, said central portion being of narrow width and of a length tofit between the lower lip and the lower incisor teeth of a user, saidside portions being integrally connected to said central portion andhaving an enlarged substantially teardrop configuration, said sideportions adapted to fit between the cheeks and the molar teeth of thelower jaw of the user, and flexible resilient tab means integrallyconnected to said central portion and extending generally upwardly fromthe upper edge thereof when said central portion is positioned betweenthe .incisor teeth and lower lip of the user and being bendablerearwardly over the lower cilitating reduction in size of said member.

1. Apparatus for reducing the psychological need of excessive caloricintake, as well as the need for smoking tobacco comprising a flexibleresilient sheet member of substantially chemically inert non-absorbentmaterial, said member having a central portion and a pair of sideportions, said central portion being of narrow width and of a length tofit between the lower lip and the lower incisor teeth of a user, saidside portions being integrally connected to said central portion andhaving an enlarged substantially teardrop configuration, said sideportions adapted to fit between the cheeks and the molar teeth of thelower jaw of the user, and flexible resilient tab means integrallyconnected to said central portion and extending generally upwardly fromthe upper edge thereof when said central portion is positioned betweenthe incisor teeth and lower lip of the user and being bendablerearwardly over the lower incisor teeth of the user, whereby when saidmember is inserted into the mouth of the user said tab means may bemanipulated both horizontally and vertically by the tongue of the user.2. The structure of claim 1 in which said tab means has a portion ofreduced thickness intermediate its length to facilitate movement of saidtab means by the user''s tongue.
 3. The structure of claim 1 in whicheach of said side portions and said tab means includes guide lines forfacilitating reduction in size of said member.